An Update from InterVarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship

“This is the happiest I have ever been!” said Jordan, a third-year PhD student at Syracuse University (SU.)

I met Jordan in mid-December 2023. Makenzie, a recent alumnus of the Graduate Christian Fellowship (GCF) at the University at Buffalo, and I were just about ready to launch a new GCF chapter at Syracuse University. When we met Jordan, he believed in God but had reservations about Jesus and was exploring the Muslim faith. Over the next two months, Makenzie and I had the privilege of walking alongside Jordan as he wrestled with his questions.

One evening, Jordan came rushing in filled with excitement. “The gospel is so much more beautiful than I originally thought,” he declared. The Bible’s big story, Jesus’ victory on the cross, and the holistic implications of the gospel had clicked. “I am 100% in. I'm going to give my whole life to following Jesus. I need to get baptized. Can you baptize me next week?”

Obviously, we arranged for a baptismal, and the following week at GCF we celebrated Jordan's new life in Christ. This profound moment marked the beginning of a new chapter for Jordan and infused a deep longing for revival into the missional DNA of this nascent ministry on campus.

Over the subsequent months of the 2024 Spring semester, GCF flourished. We soaked ourselves in the gospel of Luke and explored what Jesus' kingdom means for graduate students, for the campus, and for the world.

As we celebrated the end of our first semester at SU, we had grown from a community of two in January to a community of seventeen students by May.

Thank you so much for your partnership in the gospel. Your investment and prayerful support launched a new witnessing community at Syracuse University this spring and is bringing the hope of Christ to graduate students like Jordan on college and university campuses across Upstate NY.